LONDON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he was “very disappointed” with Prime Minister Keir Starmer after Britain initially refused to let American forces use the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean during the opening phase of strikes on Iran. Starmer later authorized access for “specific and limited” defensive operations, saying the decision was guided by international law and Britain’s national interest, March 2, 2026.
Starmer told lawmakers Britain would not join “offensive” action after U.S. and Israeli strikes, which Reuters reported killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Trump, speaking to British media, called it “useful” that the U.S. can now operate from Diego Garcia but said the approval came “far too much time” after London initially withheld permission.
Downing Street has sought to draw a firm distinction between enabling the U.S. to expand its campaign and allowing narrowly defined operations aimed at stopping Iranian attacks on allies and protecting British lives. In a televised address, Starmer said Washington could use two British bases — Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire — for a “specific and limited defensive purpose,” and Sky News reported he released legal advice outlining a collective self-defense justification under international law.
The dispute comes as Iran’s retaliatory attacks widened beyond the U.S. and Israel, including a drone strike that hit the runway at Britain’s RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus with no casualties, according to TIME. Starmer said Iran had hit airports and hotels where Britons were staying and that U.K. forces in the region were operating at the highest levels of force protection.
Diego Garcia standoff: what “defensive use” means
British officials have framed the access decision as limited to helping repel ongoing Iranian missile and drone attacks, rather than providing a platform for a broader offensive campaign. Starmer warned against repeating “the mistakes of Iraq,” saying any U.K. action must have a lawful basis and a viable plan, while insisting Britain would not join the initial strikes.
That distinction is now central to the political fight in London. Critics across parties have argued that even strikes described as defensive could broaden quickly, and some lawmakers have pressed for Parliament to have a direct vote if Britain’s role expands beyond base access and air defense support.
Why Diego Garcia matters to U.S. operations
Diego Garcia’s remote location, long runway and logistics footprint have made it a key hub for long-range aircraft and sustained operations in past Middle East conflicts, and a critical fallback as basing access changes across the region. A recent Chatham House explainer notes the base has supported U.S. air operations from the 1991 Gulf War through later campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Continuity: the Chagos dispute behind today’s row
The argument over Diego Garcia is also tied to the long-running legal and political dispute over the wider Chagos Archipelago, whose residents were removed decades ago to make way for the base. In 2019, a Reuters report from The Hague detailed an International Court of Justice advisory opinion that said Britain was “under obligation to bring to an end” its administration of the islands “as rapidly as possible.”
U.S. planners have repeatedly leaned on the Indian Ocean outpost during past flare-ups with Tehran. During the 2020 crisis that followed the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, CNN reported the U.S. deployed B-52 bombers to the island — a move covered at the time by Air Force Times.
More recently, Britain agreed to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while preserving long-term basing through a leaseback arrangement for Diego Garcia, arguing the deal would reduce legal risk to the installation and secure U.S. operations. The terms and political backlash were outlined in a Reuters report from 2024.
For now, Starmer is presenting the current decision as a tightly bounded step aimed at protecting British citizens and allies, not a blank check for a wider war. Whether that line holds may depend on the trajectory of Iranian attacks, any additional U.S. requests for access, and the political pressure on Starmer to bring any expanded role before Parliament.
